Eyewitness: Against a background of potential peace, another Palestine protest

Chris Hobbs writes that, against a background of a Middle East peace initiative, a further national Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) took place on Saturday, leaving Met police planners questioning whether this would decrease or increase the numbers attending.

As quickly became apparent, it was the latter. As I emerged from the Bakerloo Line into Charing Cross Rail Station, the crowds were far greater than in previous PSC protests. A short walk down to the meeting point on the Embankment saw large crowds arriving from every direction.

I opted to get ahead of the march, which would cross Westminster Bridge and head towards Waterloo Bridge before crossing to the North side of the Thames: Protesters would finally reach the rally in Whitehall via The Strand.

The arrest of the Inserts

I thought that the usual pro-Israeli ‘Inserts’ would attempt to disrupt the march somewhere along the route but, instead, this small but familiar group ‘inserted’ themselves at the head of the gathering as the march was due to set off. This resulted in a fracas before police intervened and arrested the very familiar faces.

This incident has provoked indignation from those detained, along with boasts that even when previously arrested, they have walked free by virtue of court acquittals or charges being dropped.

The Commissioner has commented in the wake of previous incidents that, as officers would keep Spurs and Arsenal fans segregated from each other, so similar tactics must apply to demonstrations where rival groups are involved. The fact is that if pro-Palestinians appeared in the midst of Jewish/pro-Israeli marches and rallies, officers would intervene, and indeed they have previously done precisely that.

Equally, the fate of a small group of pro-Palestine protesters materialising in the midst of a ‘patriot’ rally would be uncertain to say the least. If current legislation, such as the imposition of conditions or the fallback, breach of the peace, is insufficient, then police chiefs need to lobby the government in order that officers have the powers to deal effectively with those who ignore police efforts to keep bitter rivals separate from each other.

Protest, counter-protest and the exchange of insults

After its troubled start, the march went on its way with the next potential flashpoint being the Aldwych at the junction with the Strand, which is adjacent to the North side of Waterloo Bridge. This was where the pro-Israeli counter-protest was located, together with a predictable policing operation.

The pro-Israeli group only numbered around 200 but made up for its relative lack of numbers with a speaker system that was so loud, officers were utilising ear- defenders.

The pro-Israelis were located behind steel barriers, and in front of those barriers was a line of police officers followed by further steel barriers, thus creating a substantial sterile area. There was then a narrow corridor for both pedestrians and photographers and in front of those, a line of PSC stewards who, despite their obvious bias, again did a good job of keeping the march moving.

The appearance of the pro-Palestinian marchers saw the familiar trading of bitter insults between the two sides, with the pro-Israeli sound system giving them the clear advantage despite their lack of numbers. Most insults were against a background of music which included Queen’s ‘We Are the Champions,’ ABBA’s ‘The Winner Takes It All’ and Elton John’s ‘I’m Still Standing.’

On the pro-Palestinian side, there were a couple of scrawled ‘suspect’ placards which referred to the ‘Intifada’ and ‘Palestine Action.’ Another black flag showing Arabic script was deemed on ‘X’ to be that of ISIS. As has been pointed out, it was in fact a common religious script. Deplorable, however, was the defacing of the Battle of Britain memorial located on the Victoria Embankment by plastering it with Palestine stickers.

Events on Whitehall and Tower Bridge

It took almost two hours for the marchers to pass the counter-protest before they proceeded along the Strand and their ultimate destination of Whitehall. There, those who didn’t immediately head for home found banks of speakers spaced along the road, thus ensuring that all present could hear the speeches; these speeches included a contribution from a representative of the ‘Jewish bloc.’

If all was in order in Whitehall, it was not at Tower Bridge. As had occurred after a previous PSC protest, activists from the group ‘Youth Demand’ broke away from the main march and, for a short while, blocked the traffic before police carriers arrived and restored order.

The Met later stated that 14 arrests had been made during the course of the protest; it’s not clear however, whether these included those individuals apprehended at Tower Bridge.

Whilst the organisers proclaimed that the protest had attracted an improbable 600,000 participants, a more realistic figure would be somewhere between 40 and 60,000.

Tower Hamlets Town Hall

Three days previously, the Met had to deal with a much smaller public order event in Tower Hamlets outside the Town Hall. This was a ‘Pink Ladies’ protest linked to the placing of migrants in the borough’s hotels and a council motion criticising the ‘far-right. Tower Hamlets council is currently controlled by the Aspire party, which is headed by a mayor who was previously banned from holding office for five years.

The demonstration by the Pink Ladies and a number of male allies attracted a counter protest by anti-racists, and although each group numbered less than a hundred, there was a significant police presence. Scuffles broke out after a group of ‘citizen journalists,’ deemed to have sympathies on the right of the political spectrum, moved across to the anti-racist counter-protest. They were recognised and the anti-racist group angrily reacted, prompting an intervention by officers.

Eventuall,y both sides drifted away, but this event did not bode well for a future UKIP protest scheduled for the 25th of October, the stated purpose of which is to; ‘Reclaim Whitechapel from the Islamists.’